Stumbling Over Words Unsaid
by teaberry
Summary: It figured that a fish would fall in love with water. Collection of related ArielDemyx ficlets.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**stumbling over words unsaid  
**

**x**

Saltwater rippled gently with her movements as she peered around a small rock formation, fanning out from her half submerged body. Her head of red hair was sopping and dripping, the small trickling noises no doubt alerting him to her presence. But Ariel didn't bother to hide herself from this human, and was instead content to stay - plainly in his line of sight - and watch the symphony he had created.

The perfect, orchestral dance of his water forms moving smoothly across the surface of the ocean and sometimes the sand, their strange liquid-but-not limbs swaying and undulating. Their non-faces upturned, as if in ecstasy. All in time to the whirling melody his hands coaxed out of his sitar, fingers caressing the neck and strings in a dance of their own.

No matter how many times she arrived to this sight, it was never less breathtaking, never less beautiful than the time before. And he teased her about it, said it figured that a fish would fall in love with water.

As if _they_ were really the ones who held so much appeal for her.

"Back again?" Demyx didn't pause and didn't look up, but his voice was a friendly and welcoming singsong.

"I should be asking _you_ that question. I happen to live here, remember?" She tried to seem coy, a little older maybe, and failed. So instead she let her eyes linger on the smooth planes of his face, the bright blue of his eyes as she gave him a sideways glance.

"What, up here on the beach?" He finally turned his eyes fully towards her, music not slowing but a few of the water forms tapering off into nothingness so that the dance shrunk, became something more intimate. His eyes were wide in an innocent stare, though the laughing, mischievous quality in his voice was obvious.

Ariel's cheeks reddened in a blush and she averted her gaze quickly, eyes flicking back to his water forms so she could pretend to watch them step and twirl. She thought quickly for a way to jump away from the implication of her _fish-like_ qualities.

The reminder, however unconscious, was probably for her own good. But that didn't mean she liked it.

"You came late today." The mermaid mumbled the almost-accusation, resisting a wince at how childish she probably sounded.

But Demyx smiled, sparing a glance up at the sky to see it streaked with warm colors. His eyes suddenly seemed far off, and a small line formed between his eyes, as it often did when he was thinking about things he didn't want to tell her.

Ariel could not help but admire, for a moment, that although his mind seemed to be elsewhere, his music and water forms still danced along seamlessly.

"An errand ran a little long today."

"An errand?"

"Mm."

The sigh she breathed was frustrated, and though she decided to press further, Ariel knew she would not be able to coax anything else out of him. "What kind of errand?"

"The important kind." He smiled brightly, the kind of grin that would usually leave her breathless, but there was an edge to it.

Ariel's voice took on a decidedly sullen tone, making her sound a bit more like a petulant child than she would have liked. "I'm really not trying to be nosy." Affecting a relaxed pose, she moved easily into a back float. "But I don't know anything about you. And you've asked plenty of questions about the things _I_ do." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and fought a triumphant smile when she saw that he looked a little guilty.

"Alright then," he began slowly. "It was a mission."

The mermaid perked in surprise, moving closer to the shore with a quick flick of her tail.

"A mission?"

"Mm."

Ariel waited for more, peered expectantly at him as his eyes and attention seemed to move back to his sitar. Several moments of silence passed between them, and when nothing else was forthcoming, she clenched her teeth and struggled for patience. "What kind of mission?"

"The important kind."

"Demyx!" Ariel wailed despairingly, fisting her hands in her thick hair and pulling in a display of frustration. She scowled at the blond, whose face was painted with an unashamed grin.

When he did nothing but continue to smile, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "You're never going to tell me anything, are you?"

"Probably not!"

"Not even why you're always wearing that weird looking coat?"

Ariel blinked in surprise when his hands - _such beautiful hands_ - stilled on the strings of his sitar. The water forms faltered and then faded in splashes of mist. For a moment she thought she had made him angry, but when he turned his face towards her again she saw that it was still relaxed and smiling.

He beckoned her closer with a wave of his hand, and bemusedly, she complied. Another stroke of her tail and she was in the shallowest waters, within arms reach of him and almost laying in the wet sand.

"How about this?" Demyx extended an arm, index finger reaching out to tap the tip of her nose. The contact sent another blush running across her cheeks. "Keep me company every day like a good little fish. Maybe when you're old enough I'll tell you."

The glare returned to her face full force. She batted away his hand in a show of temper and tried to ignore him as he laughed and started up his melody again, two water forms rising up from the waves around her to spin joyfully onto the beach at his bidding.

She imagined that they were laughing at her too.

**x**

A/N: Thank you for reading! Any feedback is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**chasing shapeless silhouettes  
**

**x**

"He's quite the hunk." A slow arpeggio drifted towards her ears in the wake of his voice. She whirled, face flushing in her surprise and her mouth stuttering open with no reply. "But you already knew that, right?" He was smiling at her, sitting cross legged on a rock in the middle of the water and looking for all the world like a child. Talking like it was trivial, nothing. Oh the weather's very nice and who is that human you were so obviously drooling over.

His fingers were climbing lazily down the neck of his sitar in a slow, drawling scale of notes. Ariel felt her stomach sink with them.

His indifference stung worse than anger could have, and she found herself wishing he _would_ get angry. Wishing he would resent that her attention had been drawn to someone else, wishing that it could coax a reaction - a real reaction - out of him.

Wishing, unknowingly, that he could feel. Unknowingly because as far as she knew, the heart inside his chest was as real as hers.

"I... guess so." She looked away from him, didn't see the arch of his brows over blue eyes at her halting reply.

"You _guess_ so?" Ariel could hear the grin in his voice, too good natured to really be mocking her, but still not taking her seriously either. She wasn't brave enough to turn her gaze up and see it.

Because she wasn't a woman that could stand eye to eye with him. Wasn't a human that could stand at all. She was a little fish who had been peeping on a black haired man not of her race. A passing thought suggested that he should be disgusted with her, but one glance - painful and forced - at the blond's face and she knew that he could never be.

Sweet Demyx, angel Demyx. Too kind and too cold to express something that strong for her.

"Yeah, I _guess_ so." The mermaid's voice was strained - why was it that their conversations always seemed to run in circles? - and she turned partially away from him, her arms crossing over her chest awkwardly. A silent threat to shut him out completely that she would never follow through with.

"Your face is starting to match your hair, Ariel." He laughed delightedly when she gave a frustrated huff and stuck her tongue out at him, and the sound tore her into two regards. One that ached to fall at his black garbed feet and beg him to do it again, and one that wanted nothing more than to laugh back and share in the glee that made his eyes shine and crinkle at the corners in that perfect way. Even if his merriment was at her own expense.

In the end she shot him a less than pleased look - fabricated from a shred of self control - and with a flick of her tail she sent a splash of saltwater his way.

"Missed me!"

Ariel stifled a sigh. Yes, she was always missing him, wasn't she?

**x**

A/N: The pairing won't leave me alone! So this is going to be a small collection of ficlets rather than a solitary piece.

Once again, comments are loved!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**playing one sided games  
**

**x**

"Like this?"

"Yup, just like that. Now strum!"

Ariel couldn't contain the small, delighted laugh that slipped past her lips, coaxed into existence by both the pretty blend of notes she had managed to make and the equally pretty expression on his face. He was _excited _for her, smiling brilliantly each time she did something right, chuckling patiently at her mistakes.

And he was _touching _her. They sat - for Ariel's sake - in the shallows of the saltwater, small waves rippling up onto her fins and his legs. Demyx didn't seem to mind that he was sopping from the waist down. He had plunked down behind her, stuck his legs on either side of the mermaid, and set his sitar in her arms. He had guided her hands to the neck and strings with his own, shaped them into the right position to make this or that sound.

And she was so thankful that they weren't facing each other, though it wouldn't surprise her if he could _feel_ the searing heat of her blush. And surely it was obvious, the way her breath hitched whenever his chest brushed against her back, whenever his breath fanned across her cheek. She risked a glance back at him, a rather sullen frown pulling at her lips when she took in his expression. He was peering down at her hands and explaining something else in that amiable tone. The blond's words became a distant murmur in the background of her attention.

She couldn't for the life of her figure out if it was a good or bad thing that he was so incredibly oblivious.

"Ariel? Ariel, did you hear me?" That particular sentence, along with the way he bumped her shoulder playfully, caught her attention swiftly. She blinked and fumbled for a reply.

"Oh! Um... No." She cringed internally._ 'How very eloquent, Ariel. Nice job.'_

He had paused at her response, peering down at the girl's face carefully. "...Do you want to stop?" The slightly dejected tinge to his voice alarmed her, and the way his hands were pulling away made her frantic to fix things.

"No!" She caught one of his hands in both of her own, brought it back to the sitar in her lap. "No, I-I really want to learn. What's next?"

Her earnest manner seemed to reassure Demyx, his enthusiasm and his grin returning. "Do you remember all the chords we've done so far?

"I... think so." She thought for moment, then nodded firmly.

"Alright! Now we're going to put them all together in this rhythm."

As he walked her through it, Ariel mimicked his movements carefully, and the couple of wrong notes that she hit were intentional, just so she could feel the warm brush of his callused fingertips against hers. The blond had begun to lean further over her shoulder, and her eyes were drawn helplessly to his face again, though this time he caught her distracted state after only a few moments.

"Ariel..." Hearing him say her name again was worth the exasperation in his expression.

"I'm listening, I swear!" The mermaid demonstrated the last couple of measures he had shown her, her slightly clumsy rendition enough to make him smile and continue.

"You're not too bad at this, you know."

And this time as he walked her through the rest of it, she paid close attention to his every word, ignoring the wash of warmth as he leaned a little closer. Ignoring the heartbeat in her chest that sang and stuttered at his closeness, threatening to drown out everything else.

**x**

A/N: Sorry for any mistakes or typos! I know my proofreading usually isn't very thorough.

Comments are greatly appreciated and make me very happy.


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